It has been a traumatic time for car workers in Trollhattan in the west of Sweden. After years of uncertainty, this giant Saab car plant eventually stopped production in 2013. Thousands of jobs and livelihoods disappeared.

Saab's successor, NEVS, ready to produce new electric vehicle

It has been a traumatic time for car workers in Trollhattan in the west of Sweden. After years of uncertainty, this giant Saab car plant eventually stopped production in 2013. Thousands of jobs and livelihoods disappeared. But now it is back. CCTV’s Dan Williams reports the story.

Under new owners, a new name and an electric car that already has an order book worth more than $12 billion.

“The first car will launch early next year and will be put into production in 2018. That is a car that is filling a gap in the market. A pure electric car that still has the performance, should be fun to drive, should be a safe car,” Mattias Bergman, president of NEVS, said.

NEVS or National Electric Vehicle Sweden is a Swedish firm with Chinese backers. The new cars will begin production at a newly built factory in China. Production in Sweden will then follow. But the business model will not follow the conventional car-dealership route.

“We will tailor the car for each transport need. Sometimes you need a small car to transport yourself in downtown, sometimes you need a large SUV to go in the countryside. You just pay for what you use. So you can modify the package based on your transport need and financial capability,” said Mattias Bergman, the president of NEVS.

Although some of the locals remain skeptical, the reopening of the production plant would give the town a significant boost.

Saab toyed with electric transport in the past. But NEVS hopes to take the electric car industry to a whole new level.